Saturday, June 25, 2011

June Quilt Club Night

The hall was particularly crowded with a big turn out of members attending the Pinestream Quilters June meeting. It just goes to show that wet weather and dark winter evenings are no deterrent to a good night out for our bunch of happy quilters. Members Maureen and Joyce were our speakers and they introduced some of the ladies from the New Settlers group, to whom they teach sewing skills. Maureen told how she first starting teaching a group of Sudanese ladies to sew in 2004. These first pupils have since moved to other areas and the current group hail from Thailand, Italy, Russia, Nepal and Singapore. The ladies held up the aprons, quilts, knitting, crotchet, and clothing that they had made in the sewing classes.

Ladies from the New Settlers sewing group

The clothing on display was exquisite. There was a pair of green satin Russian shirts which shimmered under the lights. And we also admired the most gorgeous white satin and stretch lace dress which was made as a wedding gown for a daughter. I think these new settlers could teach me a thing or two about sewing! When you realise that all these items are made from donated fabrics, the results are even more spectacular.

Russian style shirts and a wedding dress

I wanted to get up close to have a good look at this beautiful embroidered panel. The branches and berries were heavily embellished with silvery snow, no doubt to remind the Russian lady of the severe winters of her homeland. The ladies thanked Maureen and Joyce for running the sewing group. “Our group is like paradise”, we were told, “and we are very blessed”.

Embroidered bird panel

Show and Tell from our club members was inspiring too. Gillian told how she and her 91 year old Mum sat down and each sewed a quilt together. We didn’t get to see her Mum’s quilt, but Gillian’s version was spectacular. Black sashing really makes the jewel colours glow.

Gillian’s quilt

We all love looking at children’s quilts and these two quite different styles took my fancy.

Pretty quilt for a grand-daughter

This one is being sent to China

It was another very busy evening with a lot going on, quilts to inspect and admire, people to catch up with, and supper to enjoy. All in all, another very enjoyable meeting.